Provinces of Ireland

Provinces of Ireland Cúigí na hÉireann
"Flag of the Four Provinces"
Location
Leinster     Munster     Connacht     Ulster
Statistics
Area:	84,421 km²
Population (2006):	5,962,110

Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces, although the Irish language word for this territorial division, cúige (literally: "fifth part"), indicates that there were once five — Meath (now incorporated into Leinster with parts going to Ulster) being the fifth.

The four provinces are:

Province	Flag	Irish name	Population (2006)	Area (km²)	Number of Counties†	Chief city
Leinster		Laighin Cúige Laighean	2,292,939	19,774	12	Dublin
Munster		Mhumhain Cúige Mumhan	1,172,170	24,608	6	Cork
Connacht		Connachta Cúige Chonnacht	503,083	17,713	5	Galway
Ulster		Ulaidh Cúige Uladh	1,993,918‡	24,481	9	Belfast
Note 1: † "Number of Counties" is traditional counties, not administrative ones. Note 2: ‡ Population for Ulster is the sum of the 2006 census results for counties of Ulster in Republic of Ireland and the 2006 estimated population for Northern Ireland.[1] Population for other provinces is all 2006 census results.

The origins of these provinces (loosely federated kingdoms with somewhat flexible boundaries) of which there were five in existence prior to the coming of the Normans can be traced to the overriding influence exerted in their respective territories by the great Irish dynastic families of O Neill (Ulster), O Melaghlin (Mide), O Brien (Munster), O Conor (Connacht) and MacMurrough-Kavanagh (Leinster). In the post-Norman period the historic provinces of Leinster and Meath gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster. In the Irish Annals these five ancient political divisions were invariably referred to as Cúigí, i.e. ‘fifth parts’, such as the fifth of Munster, the fifth of Ulster and so on. Later record-makers, dubbed them ‘provinces’, in imitation of the Roman imperial provinciae.

In modern times they have become associated with groups of specific counties, although they have no legal status. They are today seen in a sporting context, as Ireland's four professional rugby teams play under the names of the provinces, and the Gaelic Athletic Association has separate Provincial councils and Provincial championships.

The provinces were supplanted by the present system of counties after the Norman occupation in the twelfth century.

Six of the nine Ulster counties form modern-day Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is often referred to as a province of the United Kingdom. These two inconsistent usages of the word "province" (along with the use of the term "Ulster" to describe Northern Ireland) can cause confusion.

Poetic description

Flag of Mide, the former fifth province of Ireland

This dinnseanchas poem named Ard Ruide (Ruide Headland) poetically describes the kingdoms of Ireland. Below is a translation from Old Irish:

See also

• Counties of Ireland
• Counties of Northern Ireland
• ISO 3166-2:IE

Counties of Ireland Connacht Galway (Galway City) · Leitrim · Mayo · Roscommon · Sligo Munster Clare · Cork (Cork City) · Kerry · Limerick (Limerick City) · Tipperary (North Tipperary • South Tipperary) · Waterford (Waterford City) Leinster Carlow · Dublin (Dublin City • Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown • Fingal • South Dublin) · Kildare · Kilkenny · Laois · Longford · Louth · Meath · Offaly · Westmeath · Wexford · Wicklow Ulster Antrim† · Armagh† · Cavan · Fermanagh† · Londonderry† · Donegal · Down† · Monaghan · Tyrone† Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties. † denotes counties of Northern Ireland

References